Pyrrhic Victory
by EinsamerWolf328
Summary: It's a special day for Pyrrha and Ruby. But not one to be celebrated. A little BlackRose.


**Pyrrhic victory**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

Ruby walked through the forest, a bouquet of red roses in her hands. She looked up as she reached the cliff to see Pyrrha standing there, but wasn't at all surprised. They were here for similar reasons. Ruby approached the gravestone, knelt down and gently placed the bouquet on top. She then got up and walked next to Pyrrha, who just looked down.

"Hard to believe it's been seven years," she finally said, looking out beyond the cliff. "It's so quiet. To think this is where my father achieved his greatest victory." She looked down again. "And faced his greatest defeat."

(**)

Seven years earlier

(**)

The field roared with the sounds of men and beasts screaming, steel clashing against claw and guns being fired.

Vernon Rose struck down a Beowolf with his sword. He threw back his red cloak with the black rose emblem imprinted on it to reveal black damaged armor. His shoulder-long red hair blew in the heavy wind as he some of the dirt and blood out of his mustache and goatee. He then straightened the eye-patch over his right eye, which had shifted in battle. His silver left eye then focused on another Beowolf charging at him. He bashed it with his black shield with the silver rose emblem imprinted on it and thrust his sword into its chest.

Upon noticing that he was being surrounded, he unleashed his aura as a blast which knocked back and killed the surrounding monsters. He then vanished in a trail of rose petals, cleaving through many Grimm within seconds.

He came to a halt next to another group of soldiers. "Soldier! Have you seen General Nikos?" He asked while blocking an attacking Beowolf.

"Yes, Commander," the soldier replied, striking down an Ursa. "He's just beyond that hill with the rest fifth company."

"Alright. Shield-bearers, with me! Gunmen, cover the rear!" They moved on, Rose and the men in the front striking down any monster charging them while the ones in the back gunned down any closing in on the rear.

"Alright, men!" Rose yelled upon seeing the General. "To the General!" They then charged, cleaving down any monster in their way. "Hold the line!" He told his men as he approached General Nikos. "Pyrrhus!" The General did not seem to be any better off than Rose. His golden armor was just as damaged and dirtied as Vernon's, his short red hair and beard covered in dirt and blood. Green eyes peered through the visor of his rifle.

"Vernon!" Pyrrhus replied as he shot a Beowolf. "Good, the line was starting to weaken. We needed reinforcements!"

"Sir, our men are dying everywhere! We must fall back!"

"We can't!"

"Pyrrhus, if we stay, we will die!"

"And if we retreat, everyone will die! Vale will fall and everyone will be killed! We must hold the line!"

Vernon looked at Pyrrhus, then looked around. "Fine."

"Thank you, Vernon. Trust me, we'll win. We'll get through this."

"I hope you're right." Vernon then vanished in another trail of rose petals and the Grimm around the soldiers started dropping within seconds, cut to bits. Vernon then reappeared at Pyrrhus, panting heavily. "Good lord, there's no end to them!"

Suddenly, the roaring of the soldiers got louder. The air was suddenly filled with lead as the bulk of the army joined them, gunning down the Grimm.

"Hah, I told you, Vernon!" Pyrrhus laughed. "Victory will be ours!"

"Well, I'll be damned." Vernon smiled.

"See, the Grimm are retreating," Pyrrhus said proudly.

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, my friend. They're not retreating, they're regrouping," Vernon said as he watched the massive horde of Beowolves, Ursae and Boarbatusks form up behind larger Grimm. Three Deathstalkers and two King Taijitus crawled across the ground in front of them, with a Nevermore flying above them.

"Damnit, those things will decimate our ranks," Pyrrhus stated.

"No," Vernon replied. "My aura is still strong. I can take them on."

"What?!" Pyrrhus yelled. "That's insane! You can't be serious!"

"I won't be facing them alone. You'll be giving me fire support. These men are just soldiers, Pyrrhus. They can't take on this kind of enemy in close combat."

"And neither can you!"

"But I have somewhat of a chance."

"And you have quite the chance of dying! Vernon, are you really willing to risk making Ruby an orphan?"

Vernon looked him in the eye. "It's as you said, Pyrrhus. If we fail, Vale falls. I've prepared for the event of my death. Ruby will be taken care of. But I can't risk her death."

The two stared at each other for a few moments, before Pyrrhus looked down. "Don't you dare die on me!"

Vernon smiled. "Understood, sir." He then vanished in yet another trail of rose petals. Pyrrhus shook his head before turning towards his men. "Soldiers! Commander Rose will be engaging the enemy. You'll provide him fire support! Understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The soldiers replied as they took up formation.

Vernon charged one of the Deathstalkers and sliced at it to get its attention. It swung its right claw at him, which he dodged with a swift backwards roll. He then jumped over the King Taijitu attacking him and landed on its head. He then reinforced his sword with his aura, making it glow red, and thrust it between the monster's nostrils before sliding down its back, slicing it open from head to tail.

As the dead Grimm fell to the ground, the other King Taijitu attacked him. He dodged its attempts at grabbing him in its mouth, until he saw his chance and blocked a bite with his shield, shattering its fangs. He then pulled his arm back and bashed the creature with his shield, knocking it to the side and grabbing on to it. He then thrust his sword into its eye at full force, pushing it in to the hilt. The monster fell to the ground and Vernon pulled his sword out.

He turned to the Death Stalker charging him. When he noticed it was preparing its stinger for a strike, he got an idea. He ran towards the creature, avoided its claws and jumped on its head. As it thrust its stinger, he jumped up and bashed it with his shield, forcing it down and into the monster's head, where it stuck. As the Death Stalker attempted to pull it out, Vernon jumped on the tail and hacked off the stinger. As the tail swung upward, he used his speed to propel himself forward and bashed the stinger, jamming it into the Death Stalker's skull, killing instantly.

He then took a moment to take in his surroundings. There were two more Death Stalkers, bullets ricocheting off their armor. The Nevermore still in the sky. The remaining Grimm were being suppressed by the constant gunfire.

As another Death Stalker started charging him, he thought about how he should fight it. He then got an idea. One a lot riskier than the first. He started running towards the monster. When it tried to grab him, he slid under its claws and right underneath it. He then proceeded to jam his sword into the bottom of its head. While it did not have strong plating underneath as it did on top of its head, Vernon still had trouble stabbing it. Then it did something he feared it would. It rose up and quickly came back down in an attempt to crush him. He rose his shield to protect, and it deflected most of the damage.

It continued to do this three more times until he finally felt his sword slide into the creatures skull and it went limp. He managed to climb out from under the heavy creature, but had no time to catch his breath as the Nevermore almost instantly caught him.

It flew up, higher and higher. Vernon struggled, but then the creature let him go, planning to let him fall to his death. He managed to grab one of its claws and started climbing up the creature. When he got to its head, it tried to throw him off, but he held on tightly.

He then placed his sword across the creature's throat, grabbed the end of the blade with his other hand and pulled, forcing the creature's head backwards. Its wings started flailing uncontrollably as it plummeted towards the earth. It crashed into the earth, bouncing off and crashing again a few more times until the force combined with aura-reinforced blade finally decapitated the creature. As the headless body crashed into the ground one last time, Vernon was flung forward. He, too, crashed into the ground a few times before sliding to a halt.

He groaned and clutched his. It felt like something broke. But he still forced himself up. He was not about to give up. Not while his daughter was at home, waiting for him.

His senses perked up and he turned towards the last Death Stalker approaching. He rose his shield, but the creature smashed down on it, it shattered and he was knocked aside. He forced himself back to his feet and faced the creature. He then ran towards it and jumped on its head. With a shout, he summoned the last of his energy and thrust his sword into one of its eyes. Digging deep, until only the hilt stuck out.

He then fell backwards onto the ground. Gasping for air, he clutched his left side as he got back to his knees. His vision was blurry. He had to really focus to make what he saw. A group of Ursae managed to get by the suppressive fire and were now charging him.

_Ruby,_ he thought. _I'm sorry. Papa's not coming home. _A single tear rolled down his cheek as an Ursa slashed at him.

(**)

"NOOO!" General Nikos yelled as he saw his friend get mauled by the monsters. He then noticed the remaining horde charging him and his soldiers. Anger took over as he switched his rifle to its sword form and pulled his shield of his back. "Soldiers of Vale!" He shouted. "ATTAAACK!" He then charged the Grimm with his army. His feet were light. All the fatigue he had felt before was now gone. He wanted blood. And he would get it. Closer and closer. The first Beowolf was already within his reach. As he sliced it, his vision went red.

(**)

When he finally came back to his senses, the Grimm were defeated. But there was no joy. No sense of achievement. For as he looked around, he realized that of the hundreds of soldiers that were at his side, only a few dozen remained.

He wandered the battlefield until he found what he was looking for. Vernon Rose, his friend, lie dead on the ground, his body barely intact. Pyrrhus fell to his knees in front of the corpse, tears flowing freely from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Vernon. I've failed you."

It took him a few minutes to notice the soldiers behind him. He wiped the tears and stood up. He was a General. He had to be strong for his men. He turned towards them.

"We need to return to Vale! Tell them what happened here! Move out!"

"Sir, yes, sir."

As the soldiers started walking, Pyrrhus looked out over the battlefield one more before joining them.

(**)  
Present day

(**)

"Had your father not given his life, they never would have won the battle."

Ruby nodded. "Still. The word 'hero' rings kinda hollow when you consider the cost."

Pyrrha nodded in understanding. "So, what will you do now?"

"Papa would say: 'Don't sob over what you don't have. Cherish what you do.' So, I'm going to go home, kiss Blake and take her out to dinner."

Pyrrha smiled. "That sounds like a pretty good plan. Me, Jaune's probably waiting for our next training session. Time to go meet him."

With that, the two left the cliff side and went back home.

As they left, the wind ripped off a few rose petals and pulled them up into the air.

**A/N: Okay, I know I'm not that good with fights, but I just had to write this one.**


End file.
